Dilemma
by T-Bisqit
Summary: Yamato Ishida just moved to a small town called Maeli. No one likes him there and he doesn't think anyone is worth his time. Fine. But when his little brother, Takeru, goes missing Yamato may be forced to make a few friends...R&R [Pairings are a surprise]
1. Set My Heart aside to Shatter

_**Disclaimer: I don't own Digimon…**_

Hours of concentration

Broken by a second of anticipation

Can't hear myself think

Above all the noise

And above all the yelling

Is there no way of telling

How much a careless word

Or a sentence can destroy

It looks foolish from the ground

When you cry there is no sound

No point in speaking at all

Your opinion doesn't matter

When you dream it's an instant replay

Front row seats of colors, gray

See the raindrops on the window

But do not hear the patter

Bullets often fly

As mouths shoot off more lies

And while eating up the words

I don't get any fatter

It causes me such strain

To try and fight the pain

Disappointment fills my chest

Set my heart aside to shatter

And to give into this stress

See myself die from distress

I might as well take my

Heart of my chest

And bleed with it

As it splatters

_**-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-**_

**Dilemma: Chapter One - Shadows**

"_How hard is it! How hard is it to bring a friggin' jar back here in tact! It's not like…as if you haven't done this before! We've been through this a million times! And it can't have been the blood. I didn't raise a wuss! I can't…I won't believe this is happening! Well I assure you, young man, it won't happen again or you won't…_"

The angry tone grew quieter and quieter as it drifted down the hall.

Even though the voice couldn't be heard from behind the closed doors of his room, it sounded as though someone was yelling straight into his eardrum. The hateful words repeated themselves over and over in his head. Each word was like a powerful drum, only adding to his pounding headache.

His whole body burned from the lashings that had been delivered only a few minutes ago by his father's brother and even though nothing could be heard from outside the room, he was certain that his uncle was still fuming about what happened.

He had failed again. He failed another mission.

The blame hadn't been placed solely on him for the mission before, but this one was entirely his fault. The whole situation had felt too familiar and it bothered him that he couldn't remember why.

"I just froze up," the boy whispered aloud, suddenly recalling the incident.

**There had been blood. Nothing but blood everywhere.**

He remembered the look on dead little Cody's face, and the crimson that stained his hands. But most of all, he remembered _the jar. _

Violent images of what the jar contained flashed through his mind, causing him to gag.

Quickly, he clasped his hands over his mouth expecting to feel chunks of the stale bread and cheese he'd had for breakfast but was surprised to feel a warm sticky liquid slip through his fingers. He lowered his hand. It was a dark red colour.

**He was coughing up blood.**

"No. Not now," he gasped. His vision swam before his eyes.

'_I'm going to die_,' he thought frantically. Then his mind lapsed into darkness.

At the far end of the room, a small figure lay curled up in the shadows. Slowly and unsurely the figure exposed itself to the dim glow of the lamp above the desk. First, a thin arm could be seen in the light, then a leg, followed by the rest of her frail body. The figure gasped at the sight of an unconscious young man lying on the floor.

"Brother?" she croaked.

Her voice was hoarse from the lack of food and water. It felt as though a cotton wad had buried itself in her windpipe as well, for she found it difficult to breathe.

She gathered her older brother in her arms and gently brushed a chestnut-coloured lock of hair from his face. There was dried blood at the side of his mouth. The sight startled her. "I thought…your attacks were over…" Her voice trailed off into nothingness. There wasn't anything she could say.

She knew what had happened to the boy soundly sleeping in her arms. From the corner, she was able to see everything without being seen by anyone else. It broke her heart to see her brother treated likeshitbut if he didn't keep Uncle happy…

A soft knock at the door interrupted her thoughts. It was Weiyn, their butler. He entered the room with a tray of food in one hand and a pitcher of water in the other. Sensing the girl's fear, Weiyn assured her that their uncle had gone and wouldn't be back for a while. Her eyes shone with appreciation. The girl let a grateful smile take over her features. Weiyn smiled back and left the room.

Gently, she shook her brother until he was awake. He seemed dazed, but was partially able to eat the meal that was set for him. His younger sister ate what was left--a bologna sandwich and half a jug of water. An hour later, the boy was sleeping again, with his head in his sister's lap. The small amount of water that she saved was used to comb the blood out of her brother's matted hair. Sighing, she looked around the room for a clock.

**It was 5: 26 pm.**

'_Uncle will be back in the morning', _she thought. When he got home, his anger would have worn off but he would be restless. If her brother made another slip, he wouldn't be as lucky as he'd been tonight. The punishment would be _much_ greater.

'_Next time, Uncle might kill him', _a voice sneered in her head.

Then her body started to shake because she knew. She knew it was the truth. Uncle would kill her only sibling for sure. It was what he'd meant to say earlier.

"_**Well I assure you, young man, it won't happen again or you won't…"**_

"Live to regret making the same mistake again", she whispered in unison with her uncle's voice. It sounded so clear.

**It was almost as if he were sitting right beside her.**


	2. Solitude

_**Disclaimer: I do not own Digimon…**_

**-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-**

**Dilemma: Chapter Two - Solitude**

In the vast eastern sky of Maeli the sun began to set, leaving behind a orange glow that gracefully reflected off the ocean's delicate surface. A young bird flew by a large hill, just barely dodging a small stone that had been thrown unintentionally in its direction.

The bird chirped sharply at the rock as if warning it to stay away. An old man sporting a straw hat came into view. From the odd way he walked, his jerky long legs and the slight sway of his head, one might draw the conclusion that what they were witnessing a blind man struggling to find his way home. Not that it would matter. Even if that were the case surely someone _else _would help him out.

Two years later and the town was just how they'd left it. Heartless.

Another rock flew from the hills and skipped across the ocean's surface.

'**Clink' 'Clink' 'Clink' 'Plunk'**. Four times.

The old man turned his head.

"Whoo hoo! Great shot!"

A boy on the hill cheered. His companion smiled, showing his appreciation. "That was…" The praise, in mid high-five, suddenly died on his lips. He felt odd. He felt that someone was watching them.

A moment after scanning the area, the boy's tense shoulder's relaxed. Relief washed over him. There was no one but the blind man. Had there been anyone else by the hillside they would have seen the lonely silhouette of a teenage boy, chatting quietly to himself gaily throwing rocks into the water.

-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-

Eleven-year-old, Takeru Takaishi, had been searching for his older brother for over an hour now. His dirty blonde hair clung to his forehead, absorbing the sweat that had formed there. More than a week had passed since their family had moved to the busy town of Maeli and Takeru expected his brother to warm up to the new district enough to stop his thoughtless behaviour.

Every morning since their arrival Takeru woke up to an empty household. Dad, of course, was excused from the matter. He had to get up early and head down to the TV station for work. It was mandatory that he worked late some days, which often meant cold meatloaf and leftover macaroni salad for dinner. Many times this sort of tragedy could have been avoided had a certain someone remembered that he had a house to live in. That certain someone happened to be Takeru's brother.

Almost always, the older boy could be found somewhere on the shore of Magasaki beach or Birch Cove. Takeru figured it had something to do with the view of the horizon. His brother always had a thing for the way the sun was able to "transform a scene". The subject of scenery and colour never mattered much to Takeru because he wasn't really into the arts. However, he certainly admired his brother's passion for his work. He was so much like his mother.

What worried Takeru the most was how sloppy his brother had been lately. His prize hairstyle had become a potential nesting spot for birds; his exquisite taste in fashion had become no more than a plaid T-shirt accompanied by ripped jeans and worst of all, his most prepared dish had gone from Fettuccini Alfredo to pop-in-the-microwave Mac n' cheese.

"Yama!" He tried calling his brother's name. No response.

Like his mother, the older boy's emotions were always apparent in his work. And seeing that his brother was never an open person to begin with, there could be a serious problem if his source of release was tampered with. Or at least there _should_ be a problem. Strangely enough, it'd been almost a year since he last touched his sketchbook.

Takeru decided that his older brother was feeling stressed from the move; hence, the sudden change in his mood and behaviour. It couldn't still be an after-effect from the incident. That was so long ago. All the doctors agreed that the move would do him good; give him a chance to start anew. And didn't their father spend generous amounts of money to make sure that he received the best help possible?

Besides, it'd been so long since they'd last been to Maeli. My brother is behaving the way he is simply because he's still in shock, Takeru concluded. Within another week's time he would be back to his usual self.

"Yama!" Takeru tried again.

About a third up the hill, Takeru heard the _unmistakable_ sound of laughter. One, Takeru recognized, to his surprise, as his brother but he was hearing more than one voice. It seemed as if there was another person laughing along with him. _That wouldn't be right, _Takeru thought. _My brother hates everyone in this area. Wouldn't even crack a smile. If he talked to anyone I would have known…_

Takeru followed the foreign sound all the way to the top of the knoll. From behind a large bush, he was able to see what was going on. Takeru gasped. The older boy had his head comfortably leaned to the side and his pink lips moved as if he were talking to someone beside him. There was a small collection of rocks at his feet and he fiddled with a small bluish device around his neck that Takeru couldn't quite make out. However, it did look mechanical.

One minute he had an absent look in his eyes, as if he were on a planet millions of miles from the earth, then, sensing another presence, the older boy was snapped back to reality. He shoved the device under the neck of his shirt and stopped talking.

_Oh no! If he finds out I was spying on him he'll kill me!_

Thinking quickly, Takeru pretended he was still searching for the brother he had already found.

-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-

"Yama" A voice called shrilly from somewhere behind him. The older boy turned around at the mention of his name. It was his kid brother, Takeru, with a goofy grin plastered on his handsome face.

The boy brushed aside a long strand of blonde hair and regarded his younger brother. They were almost the same height, he observed. A few inches more and Takeru would no longer be the shortest in the family. Personally, he was proud of his accomplished 5"10. Their father was a whopping six feet. Sadly, Takeru stood at only 5"7.

"What do you want, T.K?"

_So now I'm T.K? Well at least we're past the formalities. Some change is better than no change, I guess. Here goes nothing… _

"Don't you ever get tired of running away?"

"Who's running-", his brother began.

"Last week I found you on the west coast of Magasaki and a few days before that on top of Birch Cove. What's next?"

Sigh. " I never thought I'd find you up here, Yama".

The older boy lifted a fair eyebrow as if to say, _well you found me. _

Takeru paused hoping his older brother would explain his strange behaviour. Nothing.

He continued, "Dad was so confident you'd be in the cove that he bet me ten bucks. Guess I won, huh?"

Getting no response, Takeru rolled his eyes._ Just trying to lighten the mood. _

The older boy sensed what his brother was trying to do but didn't rise to the bait. Instead he released a heavy sigh. "Listen T.K, I…"

"What", T.K interrupted, "were you doing up here anyways?"

As the words escaped he thought, _Curiosity killed the cat._

T.K felt his brother's frown deepen. The tension in the air only seemed to rise and the older boy's eyes were turning darker, a sure sign that he was getting angry. They changed from light cobalt to stormy blue.

"None. Of. Your. Damn. Business" He spoke through gritted teeth.

_Whatever Yama. I don't know what your hiding but I bet it has something to do with that device around your neck, doesn't it?_

"Well, Dad wanted us to help him clean the house. He said something about fixing the bathroom sink and retiling the kitchen. Some furniture needs to be moved around too. Actually he bought more furniture that needs to be _moved into_ the house first. We should have started earlier but, meh!"

"Leave it to Dad to find work for his lazy sons"

Takeru smiled, glad that his brother was warming up again. "Right. I think it's best if we started for home now before it gets too dark…"

T.K stopped. It was there again, that dreamy faraway look.

"Yama?" Takeru tried breaking the trance. It was something he hadn't seen in a long time and hoped he wouldn't have to see it again. He didn't want to lose his brother a second time. Fifteen seconds, sixteen seconds…it seemed like an eternity. Then it was over.

"Yama?" T.K tried again, "Were you…were you thinking of mo-"

Wordlessly, the older boy got up from his comfortable spot on the hill's edge.

"Don't worry about it", his brother interrupted, "I'm fine, really. Let's just go home"

An overwhelming sadness took over Takeru. _Who are you trying to convince, Yama? Me? Or yourself._

_**-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-**_


	3. Unacceptable

_**Disclaimer: I do not own any Digimon or any of its characters.**_

**-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-**

**Dilemma: Chapter Three- Unacceptable**

Now that their house was in plain view, the older blonde was able to see two figures on the front porch. One looking happy and the other looking…well…not so cheerful. The boy quickened his steps. T.K had made it back before he did.

_Probably ratted me out too._ The bitter allegation entered his head before he could stop it.

"Cold up on the hill, Yamato?" It wasn't a question. It was more of an accusation.

_Uh Oh. Dad must be really angry. _T.K thought.

Usually it was just Yama or Matt. He preferred neither but settled with his English name, Matt. Only those closest to him were allowed say Yama.

_I had better play it cool. _"Uh Dad…how did you know-"

"Where were you?! Your brother had been searching more than an hour for your ass and then I find out that you were up on the hill relaxing?"

Yamato glanced sharply in his brother's direction at that comment.

T.K simply shrugged. _That's what it looked like to me._

"That's not acceptable behavior, young man. Laziness isn't accep-"

"What he means is, we're glad that you're safe", the other figure interrupted. She glared at their father to emphasize the 'we' part, "And please watch your language around the boys".

"Marcia," Dad growled, "How many times can you defend their indecent behaviour? They-"

"Their? They?" T.K asked bewildered, "Hey! This time it wasn't me-"

"_They_", he continued, ignoring T.K's comment, "Have to learn to be responsible, especially Yamato…" he sighed, "I need to figure out what to do with my beloved sons…"

_What a drama queen. Now I know where those boys get their charming sarcasm. I feel for them still though. Hmm…there has to be some way of settling this… _Marcia thought. Then, she leaned over and whispered something into the older man's ear. She'd decided on a last second solution and from the looks of it, what she suggested wasn't pleasant. Their father was frowning.

Marcia, however, was smiling triumphantly.

"As punishment", she beamed, "You boys gotta take out the trash". She winked.

T.K almost took a step back. He was _that_ surprised. Something was amiss.

_What kind of punishment is this? Might as well send me to sponge down the car or wash the dishes or even clean my ro- _Yamato stopped in mid-thought. His father's frown had slowly transformed into a mischievous grin.

Marcia pointed the boys in the direction of the backyard.

Dad continued to smile. It was a smile that said _have fun kids. Think you could make it back before dinnertime? _

That left Yamato confused and a bit worried.

But only a bit.

-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-

"Your next mission…"

The brunet caught the file with one hand. Even bruised he had unusually fast reflexes.

"For your next mission", His uncle continued, "You'll be heading to Paris, in France. Your plane leaves tomorrow morning at six. If you miss that flight I can't guarantee you'll be permitted to take the limo back. So make sure your ass is on time".

Not even squinting could help the brunet read the file in front him. Uncle warily glanced at his illiterate nephew. He turned back muttering something to himself. The brunet thought it sounded something like "pathetic". He also heard the word "coffee" as well.

Uncle stuck his thick fingers into the breast pocket of his suit and produced a small cell phone. "Everything you need to know is in that file. After you finish the job, call the fourth number on this phone and someone will come and pick you up. Clear?"

"Y-yes sir," the young man stuttered causing his uncle to cast a sharp glance in his direction.

Uncle eyed his nephew from head to toe, sensing the tenseness in the boy's muscles.

"What's the matter dear nephew?"

The brunet _internally_ cringed as his uncle made his way over to where he was standing. He came closer and closer until they were face to face. The brunet remained motionless. He didn't even flinch when his uncle blew his sour-cream-and-onion-breath in his face.

Without breaking eye contact, Uncle's pale hand brushed under his nephew's nose. When he drew it back, there was a sticky red substance streaked across the finger that made contact with the boy's face.

Uncle let his eyebrows pose the question floating in his mind, _again with the bleeding nose?_

Uncle's hand continued to caress the spot under his nephew's nose, only succeeding in smearing blood all over his top lip. The other hand trailed down to the top of the brunet's jeans, fingering the bit of flesh exposed above his belt. He heard the boy's breath catch and ceased his movements. Then, he simultaneously hooked the phone onto his nephew's pants and made a fist around the boy's nose. In a matter of seconds, Uncle pushed back his head and forced a fat blue pill down his nephew's throat. He watched as his nephew struggled to keep his vomit down.

_Good. At least he realizes that vomit only makes it burn more, _Uncle thought.

_Oh shit! _The boy screamed in his head. He felt himself sinking.

His knees buckled under the weight of his exhausted body. Then, the first wave of pain hit.

And it hit _hard. _

Uncle's face wrinkled in disgust as he witnessed his nephew roll into a pitiful ball, shaking and shivering in agony.

Several minutes later the pain subsided. The only thing he could feel was the rippling cramps of hunger still plaguing his stomach. Truth be told, he hadn't eaten anything since the bologna sandwich the day before and he felt like there was a wave of static going through his head. For the moment, however, he was transfixed on the simple task of getting up. Food wasn't important now.

The brunet only got as far as his knees before he felt a harsh tug. His uncle had grabbed a fistful of his hair. As the brunet fought to keep his body completely motionless, the static in his head started to form words. Strangely enough these were familiar words,

'_Weakness is not acceptable_'.

Uncle smirked at his nephew's position. Head bent, kneeling on the linoleum tiles, just ripe for discipline.

_But not right now, _Uncle told himself, _not today. _

Ridden with shame, the brunet awaited his punishment…but none came. _There's no way he had a change of heart, _he thought. Instead, in a tone that was _almost _compassionate (considering his dreadful moods lately), Uncle told his nephew to relax. He buzzed Weiyn into the room and requested that he prepare a dinner for the brunet and ensure that he got a good night's rest. Then, Weiyn was dismissed.

Uncle turned his attention back to the boy in his grasp.

"Get up", he barked, "And make sure you're ready two hours before your flight. We're gonna train". Then, with the flick of his wrist, Uncle made a sign with his hand indicating that his nephew was dismissed.

The brunet had limped halfway out the door when he heard,

"Oh and one more thing…"

He winced as he turned to his uncle.

"Please don't fuck up this time".

-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-

When they left, Uncle turned back to his office desk. He sighed.

He needed to think.

The smooth oak tickled the edges of his printless fingers. He sat back, letting the leather chair absorb some of the tension in his shoulders. When he felt comfortable enough, he began to think out loud.

"Yes…that's right Weiyn. Make sure that boy gets a good rest. I have big plans for tomorrow morning. I can't have my nephew getting all soft now, can I?"

Uncle suddenly popped out of his chair, reaching for his jacket. _Maybe I'll go for some coffee after all. _

Aloud he said, "Even if I have to beat it back into his head, I'll make sure he keeps the primary rule of this game in mind, _**weakness is not acceptable**__"_.

Uncle grabbed his keys and headed out his office.

"And never goes without punishment, " He added with a cold grin.

**-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-**


End file.
